Nasa Weekly

April 12, 2015

On Potential

When I was growing up, my mother believed I was a prodigy; the only problem was, she didn’t yet know at what.

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Clouds

A blushing cloud: 縉雲 (jìn yún). Every time I explain to someone that my name essentially means “a red cloud,” I am reminded of a line from a poem by the 9th century Chinese poet Li Shang Yin.

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Grammar and Power

The politics of slang, from Nabokov to Twitter

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Hymn

They undressed

The Poet down

to his skivvies

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Left Swipe Smoking?

Strategic campaigns have sold cigarettes to marginalized individuals as a means of rejecting the culture that cast them out.

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Sis Visit

On the night before Valentine’s Day, I ran to the Dinky in the frigid February air, wondering for the hundredth time how life would be different if my sister had gone to Princeton.

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Eugenics at Princeton

The perception of people with intellectual disabilities as “defective” is grounded in an intellectual superiority that finds its natural home among the academic elite.

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@TriciaLockwood

Separating a poet’s work from her tweets.

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Astrology

Tonight, the highway is singing beneath us.

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Replacing the Irreplacable

Earlier this week, America met its replacement for the (some would say) irreplaceable Jon Stewart.

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This Glass Box

My mother is known for throwing lavish parties and not wearing underwear. We have morning glories that crawl up our living room pillars.

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It Could Happen Here

How do I explain to my Chilean family that I come from a place where prison statistics, police records, and newspaper headlines all fervently declare that I am not wanted? How do I explain to them what I tell my mother— that I never want to have children, because I know that their skin will be as black as mine?

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Verbatim

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Overheard in English 200 precept

Sophomore, about Paradise Lost: This reminds me of the Da Vinci Code!

Overheard on iMessage

Preppy junior: Oxblood Prada loafers are my white whale.

Overheard in the Genealogy of Morality

Nietzsche: The greatest haters of world history have always been priests.

Overheard on the Isle of Wight

Benedictine monk: You don’t have to talk to anyone at meals-- That’s probably the best part about being a monk.

Overheard outside Joseph Henry House

Comforting friend, on prestigious fellowships: They’re only trying to dissuade you because higher yield is sexy, institutionally.

Overheard in Terrace

Male: In general, my quality of life is better than the quality of life of the people in the books I read.

Overheard on Free and For Sale

Tasteful seller: Dior heels, $150...My mom bought these for me a while ago, but they’re too flashy for me.

Overheard in seminar

The World’s Smartest Woman: No offense meant to science...science is great, we’re livin’ it, lovin’ it.

Overheard in the RoMa dungeon at 3:30 am

Thesis troll: I just Googled “how to be optimistic.”

Overheard at Harrods

Finance bro to woman, assertively: Do you like blueberries?
Woman: What?
Finance Bro: Do you want to eat blueberries with me some time?

Overheard in Frist

Squash freshman: What’s your thesis on?
KA COS major, dismissively: You wouldn’t understand.

Overheard on the TFC terrace

Sophomore male: No, I’m not a philosophy major, I’m an ORFE major. Philosophy is my side gig.

Overheard on iMessage

I just tripped on a raccoon.

Overheard in HIS 366

Prof. James, discussing Hitler: What are some other charismatic political figures of the 20th century?
Student 1: Reagan!
Student 2: JFK!
Student 3: Ghandi!
Student 1: Thatcher!
Prof. James, pausing: ...I don’t see that.

Overheard on NJ Transit

Sophomore Theta to other sophomore Theta, incredulously: Wait, you’ve never been to Paris!?

Overheard while abroad

Lit-mag editor: I wrote an opera about Britney and Justin’s breakup. It was performed in London and New York.

Overheard in Thesis Hell

Scholar/ Senior/ Sinner: Can I cite myself?